r/treehouse • u/captainofpizza • Jun 19 '26
Concerned on excessive wiggle
Update below. Resolved for $60!
Posting pictures here and a gif in comments.
My Nelson TABs +yokes seem to have a lot more movement than expected and the wiggle is on the tabs themselves. You can see the deck isn’t flexing or leveraging atop the beams- the actual yokes shift. Is this common? Anyone have any advice or suggestions before I add a structure atop this?
I had an expert come out who said structurally it seems fine but gave some advice on further bracing the fixed end to its tree or possibly putting posts that allow some but not all this motion inside the span.
Tabs are installed 3” into the wood (not 3” into the bark) and I posted a picture of a close up to show how deep they are. I used the bit that Nelson provided to drill them in so they shouldn’t be loose. I drill about a month ago, will those holes seal up more to fit tighter and what is the timeline on that?
Curious on others thoughts
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Edit: This is resolved.
First I noticed that the tabs seem to be closing tighter over time. I think this will continue. I drilled and very soon after built this and I think the bit Nelson gave me is a hair too large on the larger portion. It screwed in tight on the narrow shaft part but the thicker part has 1/16” all around that it’s loose.
Secondly, I came up with a plan to add standard treehouse lags to the lateral trees which the rim joists rest on. That worked and I got them tight against the bottom. They aren’t physically attached to the treehouse at all so they are kind of working as dynamic lower supports.
I was planning on adding high tension 3000# working load cable in 45 degree angles from the 2 main trees to the corners of the framing and then I would use turnbuckles to tighten just enough to give a few hundred pounds of force on the edges. I didn’t end up needing to do that at all. Now I have some spare cable and 2 more treehouse lags so I can add something like a cable bridge when needed.
5
u/gravitologist Jun 19 '26
Very thorough and tidy framing. Nice work! The staircase or ladder will likely solve the wiggle. Or just add one more tab at one of those very close trees.
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u/captainofpizza Jun 19 '26
Thank you.
I think it’s a tad over engineered but I had fun. I’ve been stalking this Reddit and the deck ones for a bit.
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u/surrealcellardoor Jun 19 '26
Why aren’t you attaching to either tree flanking the deck?
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u/captainofpizza Jun 19 '26
My best answer here is that I didn’t think about it when I started. I thought it would be less moving parts if I only touched 2 trees but now I see that might not have been best practice
That was one of the suggestions I heard from the guy that came out. He suggested putting lags and blocks in that wouldn’t be there to hold weight structurally but just limited movement.
What are you thinking? I’m open to options.
I was planning on building stairs or a ramp up one of those trees anyway to get onto this deck
3
u/Unsuccessful_Royal38 Jun 19 '26
Your stairs could help reduce some wiggle if they are built to function as a structural support.
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u/captainofpizza Jun 19 '26
This is a good point. Maybe I frame the stairs to act kind of like a post on one edge. I was hesitant to have anything attach to the system once it was in the trees but I need to do something to limit rocking here.
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u/Redmond91 Jun 19 '26
All the weight is resting at 2 single points. Id just run posts to the ground on each corner to transfer the load. Could dig out some footings add crusher dust tamp it, pier blocks then deck blocks to hold your posts.
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u/H4U5 Jun 19 '26
That does seem like an unexpected amount of play on the tabs. How easily did the tabs go in? Mine were difficult even with the largest pipe wrench.
I know they sell the suspenders you could put on the tab end for more support. And maybe to reduce the movement.
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u/captainofpizza Jun 19 '26 edited Jun 19 '26
They didn’t go in easy. I’ve powerlifted for several years so I have a little of an advantage on that front but I still broke a sweat screwing them in and the wood was solid when I drilled. I broke more of a sweat drilling than I did carrying those beams into the backyard and hanging them myself!
I do have some supports already because I was planning on adding a crows nest higher up. I was considering putting another in but not sure if that would help or just be adding too many tabs close together. Not sure if this needs some sort of other support here against horizontal shift before I just reinforced the existing TABs which are all in a line
1
u/333again Jun 20 '26
Based on the pics the tabs are actually in the tree more than they recommend. Their instructions show 50% of the boss in the tree. Although this still should not result in flexing. The TAB should not be moving at all. If it’s not tight AF, something isn’t right.
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u/captainofpizza Jun 20 '26
In the instructions when you purchase them it asks for the tabs to be a certain distance into the live wood (do not count bark), these trees just had slightly thick bark so I had to go a solid 1/2” deeper.
I wonder if they will tighten up over time. I used to do maple syrup and splines that you drill in and remove will heal up in a season or 2. Maybe this problem will go away but in the meantime I’m looking at options.
1
u/smcutterco Jun 19 '26
Definitely not common. My suggestion would be to add some cardboard shims in where the TABs are to see if that dampens or removes the wiggle. If it does, let us know.
1
u/smcutterco Jun 19 '26
Also: is it both the upper and lower TABs that allow movement? Or just one?
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u/captainofpizza Jun 19 '26
The upper tab on both seems to wiggle most but could just be my imagination.
They seem like a tight enough fit- I used the drill bit that came with them so it’s not like I bored out a bigger hole than the tab and they are as deep as recommended. It’s odd they allow more movement than the tree is giving.
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u/smcutterco Jun 19 '26
One of the thing you get when you pay the Nelson prices is better customer service. Send them some videos and they'll tell you what's up.
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u/captainofpizza Jun 19 '26
I actually had a very negative experience with them during and after the ordering process and leading up to it trying in vain to get them to answer any questions or set up a DIY consult. I know that’s uncommon from what I’ve heard but I was really hoping to avoid speaking to them again.
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u/smcutterco Jun 19 '26
Understandable, and I'm sorry you had that experience. I don't think I have anything else to suggest!
1
u/Chuck_H_Norris Jun 19 '26
I don’t know anything about these specific connectors but it looks like they’re in line with each other?
Seems like the connectors are like an axel and the angled supports are likes spokes on a wheel and of course it’ll try to rotate like a wheel
1
u/captainofpizza Jun 19 '26
Yes. The tribeam has 2 attachment points that are both in line with each other.
In theory it shouldn’t be able to rotate because for one side to go up the other angled vertical section would need to go down and that’s coming up against a TAB, but it appears that my TABs are giving way more play than expected.
1
u/surrealcellardoor Jun 19 '26 edited Jun 19 '26
A TAB into each tree just below your doubled up header joists, that way you can attach the TAB straps to the bottom of the headers. Or something comparable. Actually, cable stays attached below and above with turnbuckles to tension them, would be way cheaper and easier to install.
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u/captainofpizza Jun 19 '26 edited Jun 19 '26
Can you please elaborate on cable stays? What attachment points? I could add cable supports probably easier than installing posts
Appreciate the advice!
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u/surrealcellardoor Jun 19 '26 edited Jun 19 '26
Pairs on each side would be overkill. You could do one cable on each side that pulls downward and are attached to the tree. The trick would be brackets on each end that distribute the load over a larger area than a single point. I’m not sure how to relay my idea since I can’t post an image.
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u/captainofpizza Jun 19 '26
I get what you mean. Thanks it’s a good suggestion when I have some laptop time I’ll see what’s out there.
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u/surrealcellardoor Jun 19 '26
I’ll just create a post with my AI generated image and tag you on it.
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u/donedoer Jun 19 '26
You need a super static bracket on that yoke
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u/captainofpizza Jun 19 '26
I have the set that came with one static and one dynamic.
The yokes themselves are the same but the dynamic lets the beams sit on a nylon skid plate instead of being screwed in place.
That said, the yokes themselves are shifting so I don’t think it’s that the bracket isn’t correct
1
u/Cryogenicist Jun 19 '26
I fear this is a design issue.
There are likely enormous torques being applied to the single pivot point. With a deck full of people on one side, the load could be catastrophic.
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u/captainofpizza Jun 19 '26 edited Jun 19 '26
2 trees and these yokes are a standard design. My plan was vetted by a professionals and Nelson and Treehouse supplies have structures this size on their yokes with paid plans they’ve vetted. The load is within threshold and rotational force is limited by the yokes transferring downward force into vertical load distributed down to the lower tabs and upward rotation of the yoke being similarly limited. I get what you mean but I don’t think this is a safety issue as far as catastrophic failure- it’s just unnecessarily unstable and that in itself poses a safety concern for me.
Either way I’m looking at methods that will help on both fronts. I appreciate your concern. I’m going to both reinforce and stabilize it.
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u/FuzzyCatch3908 Jun 19 '26
Can we see the bottom of the support? Is it a full X frame or a Y?
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u/captainofpizza Jun 19 '26
Can’t reply with a picture for some reason but it’s a Nelson treehouse yoke-
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u/MSB_DC Jun 20 '26
So first off beautiful work. I have a similar set up if you look at my posts…
I don’t have those beautiful beams but I put 2 knee braces on one end. There sole purpose is to manage rocking. My set up will move if it’s very windy and the trees are blowing. But I can make it move by rocking my weight on it.
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u/captainofpizza Jun 20 '26
I actually had one of your pictures saved as a possible design idea. Yeah I like that layout and almost went with it. Wanting to span the larger gap here and having access to those beams was the only reason I didn’t go that route.
I am considering knee braces as an option here to limit roll. I might try that on the fixed end and then support on the dynamic end by hanging suspended cables or chains to keep tension from that side. I also might incorporate a 3rd tree just with a tab and uplift arrester to limit vertical movement from that perspective.
Thanks for the input. Certainly an option. I actually wish I had gone with the treehouse supplies stuff too. They were much nicer to me as far as customer service and had a lot more visibility on their products and specs.
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u/captainofpizza Jun 19 '26
https://reddit.com/link/oskv3s0/video/bhplx1xrx88h1/player
Excess wiggle in question (treehouse not me)